Food is fuel, and what you reach for before and after exercise can make or break your workout success. 

Power up and maximize performance with these 10 easy meals for fitness. 

Peanut Butter

Healthy fats and protein provide sustained energy and protein to boost muscle performance. Add PB to a post workout smoothie, or make a batch of energy bars to tuck in your gym bag.

Oatmeal

Not only does oatmeal make a delicious breakfast, but the soluble fiber promotes heart health and controls dips in blood sugar. A small bowl with fresh fruit makes a terrific pre workout meal.

Greek Yogurt

The strained Greek style yogurt contains more protein and less lactose than unstrained yogurt, making it a tasty choice for exercise enthusiasts. Top with granola for a healthy snack or as part of a meal.

Bananas

Potassium rich banana are the ideal fruit to help tired and worn out muscles. Freeze ahead for extra creamy smoothies. 

Chocolate Milk

There is a continually mounting evidence to support the idea that the balance of carbs and protein found in chocolate milk is ideal for post workout recovery. For folks who cannot digest dairy, chocolate soy milk would be the best comparable dairy free option.

Eggs

Eggs provide protein, Omega 3 fats, vitamin B12 and even some vitamin D. Eat both the yolks and the whites to reap all the healthy benefits. Egg sandwiches make a wonderful grab and go post exercise breakfast, and eggs can be combined with potatoes for a healthy and satisfying weekend meal.

Nuts

One ounce of nuts provides 150 to 200 calories of good for you fuel choose the highest protein options, like pistachios and almonds, for after exercise.

Lean Meats

Animal proteins like meat, fish, eggs and dairy products provide all the important building blocks that muscles need to stay lean and strong. Choose low fat options like chicken and turkey breast and lean cuts of beef.

Seeds

Seeds are another superfood option, providing protein, minerals and inflammation fighting Omega 3 fats that help protect cells from damage. Flax, pumpkin, chia and sunflower seeds are just a few of the irresistible options.

Salmon

Many types of fish could qualify as fitness foods, but salmon certainly tops the list. it’s sustainable, low in mercury, easy to prepare, and packed with nutrients to promote healthy muscles and a strong cardiovascular system. Salmon is also one of the best sources of Omega 3 fats you can find. Enjoy smoked salmon as part of breakfast or brunch, or make a healthy and satisfying salmon burger for dinner.

   I'm sure everyone has that one friend who is so
genetically blessed that he can blink an eye and
magically drop to sub-10-percent body fat. Everyone
else has to dial in their diet and tweak their training.
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, fat doesn't
evacuate from your body as quickly as you'd like.
The first instinct might be to dramatically increase
calorie deficit and caloric expenditure, but that can
bring about detrimental long-term effects on your
body. Has your fat loss stalled? Burn more calories and
lose more weight by trying one of these
techniques!


   
 1: Master The Energy Balance Equation
Fat loss responds best to the most reductive nature
of this calorie balance equation: Calories consumed
must be less than calories burned. In order to hit
that deficit, James Grage uses cardio to achieve
proper balance in his routine.
"My steady-state cardio in the morning is the first
layer of the foundation, and I'll do anywhere from
25-35 minutes on the elliptical, five days a week," he
explains. It doesn't stop there.
James doubles up his workout with a resistance
training session later and squeezes in 90 seconds of
high intensity cardio between his sets. He prefers
the jump rope; he can carry it around from exercise
to exercise. If he does 18-20 sets in a session, this
adds up to an additional 30 minutes of cardio
training. Cardio does not need to be performed
continuously on a machine for it to be "cardio.
         
2:  CARB CYCLE
Carb cycling means you'll eat your target carbs on
training days and approximately 50 percent of your
normal carb intake on non-training or light cardio
days. This strategy helps blunt fat storage on resting
days and restores muscle glycogen in a
supercompensated fashion. It also combats the
metabolic crash associated with conventional low-
calorie diets and keeps a strong satiety signal
throughout the body.
If you find yourself at a loss for what to eat on
training days, whey protein is a great way to keep up
with your protein macros. The fiber will also keep
you full, decreasing the likelihood you'll binge on
empty carb-loaded calories when a craving hits.
Choose a whey that's low in carbs on your training
days, and reserve the mass-gainer protein for days
when you want to carb load.

     
 3: Do Dropsets
Dropsets can also be an effective way to turn up
your metabolic furnace. To perform a dropset, you
simply perform an exercise at a heavy weight until
failure, then immediately drop the weight and bang
out more reps until failure.
Continue this pattern until your muscles scream in
agony. When incorporated correctly, dropsets will
tear into your muscle glycogen, which will then
create a greater post-exercise metabolic response
from the intensity and will need to restore your
body's sapped glycogen.
Just be wary that too many dropsets can make
Timmy a dull boy, too. This is especially true if you
don't get enough carbs throughout the day; use this
technique wisely
     
 
4:  Make Your Meal Plan Mindless
You need to ditch your habits of weighing your food
to the gram at your desk and crunching numbers
throughout the day. The less you stress about eating,
the better are your chances to stick with your eating
plan and avoid making decisions that could set you
back. After all, it just takes one giant binge to
completely erase a week's worth of effort, so make
every bite count.
Just take one day of the week—say, Sunday—and
spend all day in the kitchen, preparing and portioning
out all your food among towers of Tupperware. While
your friends and family may snort at the sight, you
know a week's worth of muscle-fueling, fat-bashing
food will be within arm's reach.
   
     
5:    Perform Compound Supersets
Many people default to a full-body workout program
to include intense compound exercises and make
workouts more efficient. Why not add compound
supersets?
By pairing two major exercises back-to-back like this
—the squat and bench press, for example—you end
up recruiting many more muscle fibers over a shorter
period of time. You'll not only burn more calories
during your workout, but you'll continue to burn more
once it's over.
 
6:    Build a better breakfast.
All meals are important, but breakfast is what helps
you start your day on the right track. The best,
heartiest breakfasts are ones that will fill you up,
keep you satisfied and stave off cravings later in the
day. Aim to eat anywhere between 400 and 500
calories for your morning meal, and make sure you're
including a source of lean protein plus filling fat (e.g.
eggs, beans, unsweetened greek yogurt, nuts or nut
butters) and fiber (veggies, fruit or 100% whole-
grains). Starting your day with a blood-sugar-
stabilizing blend of nutrients will help you slim down
without sacrifice.
7:    Know your limits with salt.